Andi wrote:"If
you can remember, sling up what kinds of books you like to read on your
next post. I am stepping around the stacks here. :)"
now this
is easy!! if you would have asked which Stephen King books i haven't
read, or perhaps John Grisham or Patricia Cornwell, my answer would be
"i've read them all" .. and just last week, i ordered Patricia Cornwells
newest book, Predator which is scheduled for release on October 25th
!! but
just a few months ago i discovered a new favorite author and today i
went online to see which of his books i haven't read yet .. the author
is Robert K. Tanenbaum and these books are from his Marlene Ciampi
Series
anyway, here are the books that i haven't read yet ...
True JusticeAct of RevengeReckless EndangermentIrrestible ImpulseFalsely AccusedCorruption of BloodJustice DeniedMaterial WitnessReversible ErrorImmoral CertaintyDepraved IndifferenceNo Lesser Plea
my
daughter and i exchanged test messages late into the night wednesday ..
i had taken a shot of one of our cats, Bubba, with his arm wrapped
around my bed table .. and he was sound asleep .. 
so
i text messaged the picture to her .. i swear .. she'd respond to my
message in seconds flat .. me, i had to turn on the light ... slowly
type out my message and then struggle to remember how to send it .. but
my phone is full of silly messages from her that still make me laugh 
on
another note, and before i tackle this huge stack of papers on my home
office desk, last i got a call from my 20 year old son who is colleging
(hehe) in hawaii .. he called to tell me he missed me 
::deep contented motherly sigh:: be still my heart
i
don't remember what we talked about exactly .. just chit chat, catching
up .. i reminded him about my upcoming chemo on the 9th .. and he had
some news for me .. he hasn't touched a cigarette since he returned back
to school earlier this month!!!!! he wanted to make sure he had a good
chance of succeeding before he shared his news with me .. he still
won't say "i've quit" but he hasn't smoked since August 11th.
See
.. something good has come from my lung cancer :) if you want to know
how much it means to me that my son is even trying to quit .. its about
the best thing he could have done to make me feel like my current
struggles haven't all been for nothing .. 'cuse me while i cry 
'cept of course, mine are tears of relief
and
then my son meekly asked me if i'd managed to start using the lesser
dosage of nicotine patches yet .. he asked so gently .. so tentatively
.. he's always been so tender with my heart .. and i was relieved to be
able to tell him that yes, i'd changed from the daily nicotine dosage
of 24 mg to 12 mg a day
here's my own "statistics" from quitnet . com Your Quit Date is:Friday, June 24, 2005 at 6:30:00 PM Time Smoke-Free:69 days, 10 hours, 38 minutes and 3 seconds Cigarettes NOT smoked:1389 Lifetime Saved:10 days, 14 hours Money Saved:$245.00
now i'm really off to workin !!
just a quick update .. as long as my
ISP is willing .. during most of the day i can't stay connected long
enough to even read my email let alone reply
i'm just trying to
relax, trying to regain my strength and weight .. the strength is slow
in returning .. the weight, well, i've gained back 5 1/2 pounds that i
managed to lose in 11 days after the chemo !! Just 2 more pounds and
i'll be back to my 2nd pre-chemo weight .. i'm sucking down as many
apple juice/high calorie powder as my body can tolerate, usually
amounting to an additional 1,000 calories a day
trying to deal
with my day-to-day responsibilities, watching, amazed, at how molehills
turn into seemingly insurmountable mountains .. there are days i take a
chill pill just to make sure i don't go through an emotional overload ..
but i'm slowly but surely able to cross things off my to-do list and
now i'm playing countdown to chemo again
6 days to go before my
3rd chemo .. and of course the required chest xray and bloodwork prior
.. i wish they would let me postpone my third treatment for a week or so
.. i really feel just one more week and maybe i'd be back up on my feet
again and have a better chance of surviving (and yea, it kinda does
feel like i'm battling for my life when i get that sick from the chemo)
so
i have 5 days to finish 4 weeks worth of work at the office (i'd laugh
at how ridiculous it even sounds, but the situation is just not feeling
very funny) but i started yesterday going through my office to-do list
and very very slowly taking care of business
my cats still
haven't figured out why i'm so cross and short with them .. most days i
feel like the chemicals ate all my patience cells .. if i end up hiring
somebody to come in and babysit me, i'm putting on their list of
responsibilities to remove dead critters from my kitchen and give my
cats some extra special loving
and
i found out (today? yesterday?) that Savior Sister Susie is buying me a
dishwasher !! its a baby dishwasher .. a mini portable .. 18 inches
wide .. just a necessary place for me to keep my dirty dishes until i
have the energy to wash them .. i have a miniature kitchen with NO
counter space, so between the dirty dishes and the washed dishes that
are sitting in the dish drainer, i have no counter space left
i
finally figured out how much money i've been spending the past 2 months
.. i broke it down between the "necessary cancer expenses" and "having
fun while having cancer expense" categories .. me thinks i let the
latter get a little out of hand and realized today that my pampering has
got to stop .. or i won't have any money left for the necessary
expenses .. copayments; prescriptions; my deductible; grocery deliver ..
etc .. etc
i swear, after the dishwasher and having another
phone jack installed in my bedroom, and buying a few more good books to
read, i'm done spending money i should be spending on necessities .. but
it WAS fun while it lasted :)
i don't think being a poor cancer
patient is going to be nearly as much fun as pretending to be a rich
cancer patient .. but my credit card companies are going to be much
happier when i'm able to pay them instead of just use the cards lol
i
was hoping i'd have some left to send to the red cross to help
Louisiana and Tennessee .. it makes me feel so helpless to see those
people who've lost everything .. but it does make me realize how lucky i
am .. maybe someday i'll be really rich instead of credit card rich and
i'll be able to do something .. in the meantime i offer the victims my
prayers
on that note, its my bedtime .. nite y'all !!!
